XRP Ledger developers test zero-balance account creation for apps

Opening a wallet on the XRP Ledger has always come with a cover charge. Every account must hold at least 1 XRP in reserve, and someone has to put it there before the account can exist.

Developers are now testing a way around that. A proposal called SponsoredAccountCreate would let new accounts launch with a zero XRP balance, while a separate sponsor covers the mandatory reserve.

What the proposal actually does

The code proposal was submitted on October 15, 2026. Its pitch is simple: apps, payment platforms and AI agents should be able to create wallets for users without pre-funding each one.

The reserve rule itself does not go away. Every account still needs that 1 XRP backing it. The change is about who pays.

Under the proposal, a sponsor takes on the reserve obligation. The new account holder starts at zero and owes nothing upfront.

One detail matters a lot for users. Sponsors would not control the keys of the accounts they fund. Ownership stays with the person or agent holding the wallet, so a sponsor covering the reserve does not turn into a custodian by accident.

Why developers want this

The current setup gets expensive fast at scale. A developer creating 100,000 accounts has to lock up 100,000 XRP just to get them off the ground.

The proposal targets three use cases in particular. The first is embedded wallets inside payment apps, where users may never think of themselves as crypto users at all.

The second is distribution of RLUSD, Ripple’s stablecoin. Getting a stablecoin into lots of hands is easier when every recipient does not first need a funded XRP account.

The third is automated transactions run by AI agents. Software agents that need their own wallets to pay for services or settle transactions would benefit from accounts that can be created on demand.

The catch: it is not live, and it is not close

As of late October 2026, the proposal is still early. The relevant pull request remains under review.

It also cannot ship on its own. SponsoredAccountCreate depends on a broader Sponsor amendment, known as SponsorV1_1, which must first be activated on mainnet.

That amendment is struggling for support. It has secured about 10 to 11 validator votes out of 35, well short of the 29 votes required for approval and activation.

Amendments on the XRP Ledger go live only when enough validators signal support. So the zero-balance wallet idea is effectively waiting in line behind a parent feature that has not yet won over most of the network.

The Ripple and Privy connection

The proposal lands alongside a related move on the business side. In mid-October 2026, Ripple announced a partnership with Privy, the wallet infrastructure company owned by Stripe.

That deal supports XRPL-integrated programmable wallets that can transact in XRP and RLUSD. Privy’s whole model revolves around embedding wallets inside apps so users do not have to manage a separate crypto product.

What this means

For developers building on the XRP Ledger, sponsored account creation would remove one of the more awkward cost lines in onboarding. Instead of tying up an XRP reserve per user, a business could decide how and when to cover reserves as part of its own economics.

For the RLUSD story, easier account provisioning removes a step between a stablecoin issuer and its potential holders.

The vote count is the number to track. The Sponsor amendment sits at roughly 10 to 11 votes against the 29 it needs, and SponsoredAccountCreate cannot move forward until that gap closes.

There are also open questions around the sponsor role itself. Sponsors take on reserve obligations for accounts they do not control, which means businesses will need to think carefully about how much exposure they are willing to carry and on what terms.